Lovely tale of an ex-pat’s return to Australia. I think this would be a really good book for non-Australians to read. Many childhood memories in this. ( )

I tell the folks in my creative writing group to write the stories of their lives as if they are writing a letter to someone. That's what Nikki Gemmell does in this memoir. The title is from the fact, she says, that she chose Australian citizenship for her children rather than British, even though they were born in London. (I won't go into my questions about why they aren't dual citizens.) This is a love song to Gemmell's Australian childhood, a time of sun, surf, bare feet, and an Australia remote from the rest of Anglo civilization. This is a lovely book that my Australian daughter-in-law enjoyed very much. I was less enchanted, but it's such a quick read, I'd recommend it to anyone who hankers to get a feel for Australian home life. (April 2010)